A Conflict Of Interest

OPINION

Our Position: The Epa Has No Business Allowing The Chemical Industry To Pay For A Study.

October 29, 2004|By Sage

Most people would look askance at a government study on gun safety that was bankrolled by the gun industry.

Yet the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to take $2 million from the American Chemistry Council, a chemical manufacturers group, to pay for a study on the effect of household chemicals and pesticides on young children.

While the EPA insists the agency, not the industry, will control the study, its funding will inevitably raise doubts about its findings.

The EPA also accepted chemical-industry cash for studies during the Clinton administration. But even if it's business as usual for the agency, it's still wrong.

The EPA has a $572 million research budget. It doesn't need to go begging for money from industries it regulates.